One of the most common questions I am asked is if strength training once a week is enough.

My answer is always the same. Once a week is better than nonce a week. Once a week will help you feel so much better. Stronger. More balanced. Straighter posture. Empowered. Like you are finally headed in the right direction. Taking steps. Owning it.

Of course, twice a week will do more of that. Start lifting correctly, two to three times a week, and you will start seeing fitness results you won't believe. Muscle definition, lower blood pressure, lower A1C, higher bone density, a little swagger in your step, shoulders back, strong core.

But if you can't do twice or three times a week yet, take the first step and simply get started, without the worry or baggage of "is this enough?"

It's step one. And step one is always enough.

Maybe you will be like me and feel a mind-body-spirit empowerment from exercise that you've never experienced before. But you won't know until you try.

If you only have Saturday mornings free, then come on in on Saturdays! You can do shared personal training, a Tread class, private Yoga or Pilates. Be careful though. A few of our dedicated clients have decided Saturday morning is their empowerment Me Time, and they do two or three of those classes.

If you are retired or have kids in school and only have Thursday mornings free, then come on in on Thursdays! You can do 6:00 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. personal training, or 9:30 a.m. Tread and work out with a small group of fantastic women. Then go knock out your errands while energized to the max, feeling good that you got your most important errand done first.

If you work all week and only have one evening a week free, then come on in that evening! I won't list all our options, but we have something every weekday evening except Friday. Lots of opportunity to rock a double, also. Yes, you'll have to work on boundaries that day, and leave work even if someone is still talking to you as you drive away. Sometimes that's necessary. I was working corporate full time when my life really started to change with my Tuesday 5:00 p.m. workout with a trainer. Everyone knew. At 4:45 pm Sue leaves. If you need something from her, either get to her early in the day, or you can expect her to get back to it LATER. After she does her thing. Because you know what? No matter what your job is, you still need your thing. You need stress relief. Sanity. Movement. Sweat. And to get that body up and out of the chair, away from the screen, and into some squats or planks.

Don't let negative thoughts keep you from taking step one. Or the next step. Or the next.

I just came back from a trip to Colorado and we hiked every single day. The last day was our longest hike and my guide (my brother) wasn't as familiar with this trail as he was all the others, but it had absolutely gorgeous views of Garden of the Gods. It was challenging to hike for 4 hours and when we came upon a road, I suggested we take an Uber back to his house. My feet were starting to hurt, my cranky hip was talking to me, and I was getting hungry.

I am so glad he said no. Some of the best views were on the way back, when the sun was getting closer to falling behind Pikes Peak. Yes, it was hard. Yes, I was tired later. I'm still a little sore today.

But I feel accomplished and grateful for every single step of that hike, even though at one point I wanted to quit.